1984 minivan. Photo courtesy DaimlerChrysler Corp. Historical Collection.
Seating layout of the Plymouth Voyager. Photo courtesy DaimlerChrysler Corp. Historical Collection.
|
Chyrsler Corp. introduced the now well known minivan as a "garageable" van that would fit through a standard height garage door. Two versions, a Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan, were introduced in 1984. The previous model Voyager was a full-size van in 1983. In 1999, the 8,000,000th minivan was delivered.
The minivan had a wheelbase of 2845 mm (112 in), overall length of 4468 mm (175.9 in), and overall height of 1641 mm (64.6 in). It rode on P185/75 R14 tires. Variations had different tire sizes and convenience features.
The front-engine, front-wheel-drive minivan had two engine options — a 2.2 L tranverse four-cylinder or a 2.6 L Mitsubishi-sourced four cylinder.
The 2.2-L engine was an inline four with a bore of 80 mm (3.13 in), stroke of 86 mm (3.4 in), and compression ratio of 9.1. It required unleaded gasoline since it had a catalytic converter. Maximum power was 74 kW (101 hp) at 5600 rpm with a maximum torque of 164 N•m (121 lb•ft) at 3600 rpm.
The 2.6 L engine had a bore of 91.1 mm (3.59 in) and stroke of 98 mm (3.86 in) with a counterbalance shaft to make it run smoother and quieter than most four cylinders of the era. Maximum power was 73 kW (99 hp) at 4800 rpm and maximum torque was 193 N•m (143 lb•ft) at 2000 rpm.
Two transmissions were offered — a three speed Torqueflite automatic or a 5-speed manual transmission. On vehicles equipped with air conditioning, the condensing radiator was placed side-by-side with the engine cooling radiator thus eliminating the conventional stacked configuration and improving the efficiency of the engine cooling radiator. An electric fan was provided for each unit.
The minivan had a drag coefficient of 0.43 due to wind tunnel testing and use of computer-aided design. The driver and front passenger had their own doors, while a sliding right-side cargo door was included for rear passengers and was supported at three points on needle bearing for easy operation. The center and rear bench seats were removable because of the use of quick release anchors. A rear hatch allowed access to the rear area.
The front suspension was an "Isostrut" design with springs of different rates than previous front wheel drive Chrysler models. The spring seats were redesigned, and a one piece strut assembly tower with isolator bushings was used to create separate paths to isolate noise and vibration. The rear suspension used a "tube and casting" axle with leaf springs. Steering was a rack and pinion.
